My NROL Experience - Page 33 - JP Fitness Forums

L'ilJ · 11-09-2007, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stingo

Haven't had baba ganoush in a while, nor falafel for that matter. I'd say a visit to a middle Eastern restaurant would be in order this weekend, but I still want to be compliant with my food plan. I do know of a couple of other places though that have been recommended to me.

I would think that baba ganoush (ghanouj?) would be on plan right? Eggplant, olive oil, tahini, garlic. All good stuff and low-carb. Hummus probably wouldn't be on plan because of the chick peas. Falafal definitely not. I live in Detroit and we have TONS of middle-eastern restaurants around here. My favorite.

Here's a baba recipe ...

stingo · 11-09-2007, 08:43 AM

Thanks - made hummus on Sunday to bring in to work this week. Chances are this weekend's kitchen adventure will be devoted to making the (totally non-compliant) triple chocolate brownies, where one of the chocolates is chocolate stout.

T-Runner · 11-09-2007, 10:32 AM

It's possible if you pan fry your falafel to make a sort-of compliant version (the chickpeas are still not particularly low-carb). I have done it both with and without WW flour (w/o is traditional in Lebanese cooking, according to a Lebanese friend of mine). Just soak your chickpeas, toss 'em in the food processor with some onion, garlic, and whatever other seasonings you like (I use cumin and coriander), and grind away. The resulting "batter" can be pan-fried in a small amount of olive oil. Cook some chicken and maybe make a cucumber-yogurt sauce...delicious.
Come to think of it, I've had a lot of compliant Middle Eastern meals: you can make your own riceless dolmas, baba ghanoush, etc. that fit whatever dietary guidelines you're after. If you're not doing TNT or other low(er) carb diets, you can make tabbouleh or use bulgur or brown rice in your dolmas.

Triple-chocolate brownies...evil. But delicious.

stingo · 11-09-2007, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T-Runner

It's possible if you pan fry your falafel to make a sort-of compliant version (the chickpeas are still not particularly low-carb). I have done it both with and without WW flour (w/o is traditional in Lebanese cooking, according to a Lebanese friend of mine). Just soak your chickpeas, toss 'em in the food processor with some onion, garlic, and whatever other seasonings you like (I use cumin and coriander), and grind away. The resulting "batter" can be pan-fried in a small amount of olive oil. Cook some chicken and maybe make a cucumber-yogurt sauce...delicious.
Come to think of it, I've had a lot of compliant Middle Eastern meals: you can make your own riceless dolmas, baba ghanoush, etc. that fit whatever dietary guidelines you're after. If you're not doing TNT or other low(er) carb diets, you can make tabbouleh or use bulgur or brown rice in your dolmas.

Triple-chocolate brownies...evil. But delicious.

Thanks for the suggestion - once the hummus is gone I may give it a shot.

stingo · 11-09-2007, 02:20 PM

All exercises 3x15, 30 seconds rest except for abdominals which are 3x15, 60 seconds rest

A1 Squats 50
B1 Deadlifts w/Shrug 50

C1 Bulgarian Split Squats 5
C2 Step-Up 5

D1 Reverse Crunch (w/Stability Ball between Legs)

Squats and Deadlifts - stabilized the weight on these to get it back into my planned progression route. They were difficult today, including a 5 or so second grip break in the last set of deadlifts.

Bulgarian Split Squats - As obvious as it seems now, I think a lot of my problems were due to not making sure my heel was grounded when doing the movement (on my left leg). I noticed this after I did the first set on each leg, noting what was different. I will have to increase flexibility to get a fuller range of motion, but for right now, just being able to balance while doing these is a big improvement.

Step-Ups - Not sure why but these were comparatively easy to the rest of the workout.

Reverse Crunch - Another workout or two and I think I'll be asking for an upgrade.

Overall - Holy cow was this a hard workout! As I said in a previous post I thought that last night's spinning class played a part, I think I was right. The legs felt tired to begin with, but perseverence paid off. Energy seemed to be lacking too for whatever reason, but I think that's probably a transient thing. On the plus side though, I figured out a way to improve my BSS form/performance, and increased weights on all exercises. Having done this workout I am now midway through Hypertrophy I.

L'ilJ · 11-09-2007, 02:36 PM

You're progressing really well with those workouts! Congrats on reaching the midway point. Have you put any more thought into joining a gym with a squat rack/power cage type of setup? Then you could do one of the strength workouts! Grrrrrrr....

stingo · 11-09-2007, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by L'ilJ

You're progressing really well with those workouts! Congrats on reaching the midway point. Have you put any more thought into joining a gym with a squat rack/power cage type of setup? Then you could do one of the strength workouts! Grrrrrrr....

Already looking into it - my company got an agreement for a really cheap monthly rate for us at the local YMCA, so I'll scope it out and see what's what. If that proves unsatisfactory, I'll look into joining the gym I belonged to before I signed on with the corporate gym I use now.

UConnJulie · 11-10-2007, 08:49 AM

Tom, you are doing fantastic!! Great job on being halfway done with Hypertrophy ... and on 4+ weeks on TNT (time sure flies!) ... glad to see that you are enjoying it and making progress too. The enjoyment is important in my book ... if you are not enjoying the food you are eating, then what's the point?!

Lisa~ · 11-10-2007, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stingo

Reverse Crunch - Another workout or two and I think I'll be asking for an upgrade.

Your progression would be to work toward a partial dragon flag.

Congratulations on your dedication and all the great work you've done so far!

Lost Dog · 11-10-2007, 01:37 PM

I made baba ganoush yesterday. It's not really the same with bread. What would you suggest? I just ate it like a side dish.

L'ilJ · 11-10-2007, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lost Dog

I made baba ganoush yesterday. It's not really the same with bread. What would you suggest? I just ate it like a side dish.

I agree...best with bread. However, you can dip celery, carrots and cucumber slices. Also good served with some grilled chicken.

L'ilJ · 11-10-2007, 02:39 PM

I don't know WHAT I was thinking...I friggin' love Stillton cheese! I bought some Colston Bassett blue stillton at the store today and it's incredible. I also bought some Nazareth Swiss from Belgium...good too.

mel · 11-10-2007, 10:28 PM

Congrats on moving through the programs! Your log made me hungry!! Especially those cheeses!

mel

stingo · 11-11-2007, 12:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lisa~

Your progression would be to work toward a partial dragon flag.

Congratulations on your dedication and all the great work you've done so far!

What's a dragon flag? (And what's a partial one? lol)

stingo · 11-11-2007, 12:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UConnJulie

Tom, you are doing fantastic!! Great job on being halfway done with Hypertrophy ... and on 4+ weeks on TNT (time sure flies!) ... glad to see that you are enjoying it and making progress too. The enjoyment is important in my book ... if you are not enjoying the food you are eating, then what's the point?!

Thanks Julie - still waiting for the left shoulder/arm to mend, but am hopeful that will be soon.

stingo · 11-11-2007, 12:42 AM

Today was a day trip to Philadelphia, to see Peter Pan at the Walnut Street Theater at 2pm, and hear the Philadelphia Orchestra at 8pm. I got into the city around 12:30pm and parked in the lot next to the Walnut. A couple of blocks up I went to the Irish Pub for lunch where I had chili (which was quite tasty) and beef stew (ditto), along with a pint of the house stout. Yes, non-compliant I know, but as my birthday's on Tuesday I felt I was entitled. I've always liked the Irish Pub - the fare is cheap but good, and the beer list is pretty good too.

This was my first time going to the Walnut, and I found it to be a nice little theatre, but it was the only one I've been to that didn't have ushers escorting people to their seats - not sure why, but there you have it. As for the musical, I thought it was great, and was much entertained by it. The cast was very good, but Peter Pan and Captain Hook were the standouts, particularly the Captain. When he made his appearance on stage, you could hear a pin drop in the theatre, as everyone was thinking "oh my God, that IS Captain Hook" bright red waistcoat and all so he really looked the part. And he (over)acted it to the hilt. (The overacting was for his initial scene, but he toned it down subsequently, which made it perfect).
Speaking of lookalikes, if they ever do something with a Harry Potter story, they should get the kid who played John - to my mind a very close resemblance to the actor who plays HP in the movies. At 2.5 hours it's a long show but it was so well done, the time passed without attracting attention to itself.

After the show, I thought I'd walk to the historical district to see if I could get a table at my favorite restaurant, the City Tavern. Unfortunately they were totally booked. Which was fine as I'd had two restaurants suggested to me, so I picked Fogo de Chao, a Brazilian steakhouse which is an all you can eat buffet with an interesting twist. They have a salad bar in the middle of the restaurant, very well stocked where you can load up on all the greens, noodle salads, fruit etc that you can handle. As you're consuming that, you have a disc on your table, one side red, the other green. Servers carrying long spits of grilled meat walk around the restaurant and if they see your disc is green they will stop at you table and offer a slice of whatever meat they're carrying. To help the process, I was given a pair of tongs to guide the meat to my plate. If they see your disc is red side up, they pass your table by. To give an idea of what was being served, filet mignon wrapped in bacon, sirloin steak (medium rare, medium, well), chicken legs marinaded in a wine sauce, grilled sausage, leg of lamb among others. Those were just the ones I remember having from the 15 different meats they offered that night. (Apparently on other nights you can select general type of meat you'd like, but tonight it was just totally random). They also provide mashed potatoes, fried polenta and fried bananas, which are apparently replenished should you clean the plate. The wine list must be good too, since they have bottles of wine elegantly shelved on individual shelves on the walls. At any rate, the service was quite good, as usually within 5 minutes of going green I had 3 pieces of meat on my plate. Of course, all this wonderfulness doesn't come cheap - I paid around $48 for the meal and another $5.50 for a couple of diet cokes. It was a fun experience, and worth it even at that price point. I understand Fogo de Chao is a chain restaurant, so if you find one around you I'd suggest stopping in.

Lastly but not leastly was going in to hear the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted tonight by Stephane Deneve (first time conducting the Philadelphians) in a program of mostly French music:

HIGDON blue cathedral
POULENC Concerto for Organ, Strings, and Timpani
RAVEL Suite from Mother Goose
ROUSSEL Suite No.